Method of and apparatus for casting ingots



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. Y

J. ILLINGWORTH. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING INGOTS.

No. 439,780. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.-

WITNE E: INVENTDH M- John lbI/zLn/qw'or bh, 7% BY W 'ATTY'S.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Y J. ILLINGWOBTH. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR OAS'I'ING INGOTS.

No. 439,780. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

WITNESSES: INVEN UR 2 7% I Q SIWOHbIV,

BY m ATTY'S.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ILLINGWORTH, OF NEWARK, NE\V JERSEY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING INGOTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,780, dated November4, 1890.

Application filed June 10, 1887. Serial No. 240,875. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, JOHN ILLINGWORTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in the Method of and Meansfor Casting Ingots; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The general object of this invention is to reduce the cost ofmanufacturing steel ingots by facilitating the process thereof and toprevent the ingots from piping, and to thus avoid the wastage resultingtherefrom.

The invention consists in the process of manufacturing ingots and in theapparatus for carrying out said process, having the arrangement andcombination of parts, substantially as will be hereinafter set forth,and finally embodied in the clauses of the claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters ofreference indicate corresponding partsin each of the several figures,Figure 1, Sheet 1, is an elevation of the improved mold and mechanismfor lowering the ingot. Fig. 2, Sheet 2, is a sectional view of the moldtaken through line X. Fig. 3 is a face view of an arm for operating aclamp of said operating mechanism. Fig. 4 is a plan view of said clampfor lowering the ingot. Fig. 5 is an inside elevation or edge View ofone of the sections of said clamp. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of saidclamp through line Y, and Fig. 7 illustrates a grip or tongs, wherebythe chain may be attachedto the bottom of the ingot.

In said drawings, a indicates a bottomless ingot-mold suspended by asuitable bed or arm I) over a perforated plate or othersuitable fulcrumor holding c and pit or chamber (1, an opening or space ebeingpreferably provided between the lower end of the mold and the plate 0 toallow play forthe grasping arms or clamps, hereinafter described, andthe chamber (1, providing space whereby the DIO- cess of severing theingots from the hardened metal lowered from the mold maybe convenientlycarried on.

The opposite walls of the mold a are preferably slightly larger at thelower end of the mold, though they may be vertically parallel; or, atleast, the mold-chamber is preferably no larger at or toward the upperend than at or toward the lower end, so that the said walls will notpresent to the lowered ingot any resistance such as would be presentedby walls contracting toward the lower end. By this constructioncomparatively little,if any, extraneous weight or power is required tolower the hardening or hardened ingot. The perforation or opening f inthe fulcrum or holding-plate 0 lies vertically in line with themoldchamber, so that as the ingot passes downward from said chamber itmay pass through said perforation into the said chamber d. Said plateholds the ingot steady when the lower portion of the ingot is beingbroken or severed from the upper portion orprevents the strain fromcoming on the mold or other portion of the device, thus protecting thesame from wear and breakage.

The mold is so arranged as that the moldchamber will lie vertically, orapproximately so, and thus allow theingot or casting to gravitatenaturally therethrough, only obstructed by the friction of the walls. Bythis means but little power, comparatively, need be exerted by theclutch, hereinafter described, in lowering the said ingot or casting.Below said mold, preferably working in the space 6 above the perforatedplate, is arranged a dog, clutch, or clamp 0, adapted to grasp, bite, orclamp the ingot and draw or force it down through said perforation. Saidclamp or dog has preferably a limited movement in a straight course orpath axially in line with the mold, so that the casting is drawn auniform length at each movement or pulsation of the clamp. lcons'iderany device adapted to grasp the device, to draw or force the ingot down,and then to release itself orbe released from the ingot in its upward orreturn movement an equivalent for the part 0.

One construction and mode of operating the dog, clutch, or clamp isindicated in the drawings, in which 0 c are the clutching, clamping, orbiting sections of the dog having an aperture to receive the ingot, andsupported onsprings g g, which serve to hold the sections up into aposition to engage the ingot prior to clutching the same and drawing itdownward. The sections of the dog, clamp, or clutch are caused to bite,clamp, or clutch the ingot prior to their downward action by a suitablemechanism, but preferably by forked arms h h, provided with inclines it,

which embrace or engage the ends of the sections 0 preferably providedwith corresponding inclinesjj, and automatically cause them to cometogether or move toward one another, as indicated in Fig. 6, and thengrasp the ingot lying between them. But one forked arm may be employedto secure the desired result, the sections being otherwise connected atthe opposite side of the ingot. The sections of said dog or clamp c arepreferably held together by the guide-bolts t, and when the arms h h areraised the sections are automatically separated by springs s, as will beunderstood upon reference to Fig. 4. The arms h h are connected to ahydraulic crane m of any ordinary or peculiar construction, the mereWeight of the movable parts of which applied at the desired momentcauses the arms h h to descend and the sections 0 0 to clutch the ingotand draw the same downward until it is stopped by the floor or othersuitable stop at or the clutch otherwise arrives at the end of itscourse. The said floor or stop or may be so constructed as to be readilyraised or lowered, thus stopping the ingot at a shorter or longerdistance from the fulcrumal bearing or plate 0, or the course of theclamp may be limited by other means. The said plate 0 is preferablyseparable from the plate 0 and secured to it by bolts or in any othersuitable manner, and is made preferably of chilled iron or hardenedsteel to successfully withstand or resist the wear occasioned in theprocess of breaking off the ingot, hereinafter described.

An ordinary ingot or block or plug, preferably one with a dovetailedformation at the top, is inserted in the bottom of the mold a to preventthe liquid metal from flowing or falling entirely therethrough, afterwhich a casting is poured, partly filling the mold. This casting isallowed to cool slightly and form a crust or shell at the sides of themold. Then another casting is poured on top of the first, and after thathas cooled sufficiently the crane is allowed to drop by its own weight,or, if desirable, by the power exerted by the water therein, carryingwith itthe arms h h, which engage with the dog or clamp sections 0 andclamp it fast to said ingot or the block first inserted. The ingot iscarried down until stopped by the plate it. A chain 19 or otherequivalent mechanism adapted to break the ingot from the body of thecasting is then attached to the lower end of the ingot by means of aclamp or tongs or other suitable clutch or tie. The chain, when the sameis used, passes over the sheave or pulley r, and is attached to thehydraulic crane, preferably the one before referred to, which is thenraised, and by the power thus exerted breaks ofi the ingot at thefulcrumal or holding plate 0. The crane may be actuated by other powerthan that exerted by the pressure of water.

Then the metal last cast comes in contact with the partially-cool metalimmediately thereunder, a slight joint or fault is made caused by theinterruption in the process of pouring or flowing the metal into themold, which is apparent chiefly at the surface of the ingot, at whichpoint the casting when solid is more easily broken. After lowering theingot the chamber formed in the mold because of such lowering is filledwith liquid metal, which becomes integrally joined to the metal stillliquid or viscid in the body of the ingot previously cast. This lastcasting is allowed to stand a moment until the outer portion is chilled,when the lowering and breaking off and refilling processes are repeated,and as often as may be desired.

The mold is preferably more than double the length of the desiredingots, so that should the metal be lowered a second time beforerefilling the mold through inadvertence or other cause the lowered metalwill not be entirely disconnected from the mold, and the latter will notbe opened at its lower end so as to allow the liquid metal to passtherefrom to the mechanism below.

The intermittent flow of the liquid or fluid metal into the moldproduces a series of joints or places of union such as has been referredto, at which the solidified casting may be more readily or easily brokeninto ingots of the desired length, although the joint is not of suchnature as to render the ingot defective if it is found desirable toallow the metal above and below said union to remain integral.

By the operation thus described any subsequent casting is givensufficient time to set where it engages the inner walls of the mold andthe previously-cast ingot, so that when lowered the interior metal,still in aviscid or fluid condition in the interior of the casting, isprotected by what may be termed a coating of harder metal, and will notbe drawn through or allowed to lower independent of the said hardenedcoating when the ignot is lowered in the mold, and thus increase theproportions of the pipe in the mold instead of curing the defect.

When the metal in the intermittent movements thereof arrives at a pointbelow the mold where it is to be severed, it is of sufficient soliditythroughout to sustain its own weight. It is preferably broken while yetat high temperature, technically termed red short, where it may bebroken at'a reduced exertion of power.

In operatingin accordance with the process described it will beobserved, first, that in lowering the ingot or casting in the mold achamberis formed in the upper part thereof of considerable depth;second, that after IIO lowering process.

having been lowered the said ingot or casting is still in a contractingcondition or in a state in which under ordinary conditions the pipewould be forming, and, third, that the pipe is still forming or themetal contracting when the subsequent flow or pouring of the metal iseffected. As the process of contracting continues, the molten metal ofthe subsequent' casting is drawn into that of the first or previouslycast ingot or casting, filling what would otherwise have been the pipe;but the molten metal not only enters the lower ingot or casting by beingdrawn, but is forced into the pipe by the weight of overlying liquidmetal in the deep chamber formed by the This feature of the inventiontowit, forming a chamber on the upper part of the mold by stopping thesupply of liquid metal and lowering the ingot to form a chamber afterthe said metal has become partly solid-l deem to be of particular value.

Each break or interruption in the flow of metal to the mold-chamber,caused by stopping the supply of liquid metal and subsequently, afterlowering the casting, continuing the flow, produces a flow or joint orplace of union, which, while apparent to the eye on the outside of thebody-casting or doubled ingot, does not extend so far into the saidbody-casting as to impair its value should the said body-casting berequired for use as a whole.

The intermitting fiow is so timed that the body-casting will have theflaws or places of union only where it is desirable to break the ingot,and, as it is generally desirable to secure a number of ingots of agiven length, the amount of metal poured continuously before cutting offthe flow is the same for each succeeding ingot of the series.

The process of producingin a casting at uniform distances apart a seriesof flaws or places of union where the body-casting may be broken intoportions or ingots is an important feature of this invention. It may behere observed that the element of time is a factor in producing the flawor joint, and experience proves that a delay or interruption.

of about a minute in the flow secures the best results. A'shorter delayserves to render the flaw less perceptible and even imperceptible inappearance or effect.

While I consider the formation of the flaw in connection with theprocess of breaking off the body-casting into ingots of value andimportance, yet I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself tothis feature of the process. Again, while I do not limit myself to theprocess of breaking, (as distinguished from cutting, as by a blade orsaw,) I wish to be understood as considering this afeature of importancein connection with the lowering process. metal casting into parts is notnew, I believe it to be new when one portion of the casting remains inthe mold and the other (lower) While I am aware that breaking a portionis broken by power exerted upon the said lower portion and resistanceexerted at or above the point of separation, the resistance being suchas is exerted by a fulcrum.

The advantage of the process of breaking consists in the fact that I amenabled to apply the power of ordinary hydraulic mechanism directly tothe. ingot or casting while it is in a proper condition without theintervention of complicated mechanism and can secure the desired resultwith greater facility.

The crane is actuated by water-pressure, preferably, in any of theordinary ways, though other actuating force may be employed. \Vhen thecrane is operated to draw on the chain or other connection, lateralstress is brought upon the downwardly-projecting portion of the castingwith considerable suddenness, so that the ingot is broken from the upperportion of the casting.

The advantage of breaking as distinguished from sawing or otherwisecutting the casting into ingots is that by that method the result can besecured by the simple and effective mechanism described and in thelimlted time necessitated by the cooling metal above.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new is- 1. Theprocess of casting ingots, which consists in casting a portion of theingot, allowing the outer parts engaging the mold to chill' or harden,drawing the ingot downward to secure a receptacle for a second portion,and finally casting said second portion whilethe core of the firstportion is still liquid or viscid or in a condition to unite with saidsecond portion, substantially as set forth.

2. The process herein described of casting ingots successively in anupright mold, which consists in casting an ingot or casting, allowingthe same to partially cool while in a state of rest, lowering said ingotin said mold and repeating the casting process, substantially as setforth.

3. The process of producing pipeless ingots, which consists in casting aportion of an ingot by partially filling a mold with metal, sufferingthis portion to set 'exterio'rly, casting a second portion after bypouring its metal into the mold and onto the first cast portion, afterthe second portion has in like manner set pouring thereon a thirdportion, drawing the ingot from the mold, breaking off the lowestportion at the joint, and pouring onto the third portion a fourthportion,'

substantially as set forth.

4. The process of casting pipeless ingots, which consists in casting aportion and suffering the same to set exteriorly while the metal is atrest, lowering the ingot or portion in the mold to form a chamber abovesaid portion, and casting a second portion above said lowered portion,substantially as set forth.

5. In combination, a bottomless mold, a fulcrumal bearing arrangedthereunder, mechanism, substantially as described, for lowering theingot, and means, substantially as described, for breaking off thelowered ingot, substantially as described.

6. In combination, a bottomless mold, a

- bearing 0, stop n, a crane, and means co-operating with said crane forlowering and breaking off the ingot, substantially as described. 7. Incombination, a bottomless mold, arms h h, having inclines i 2', andgrasping-sections having corresponding inclines 7' j, substantially asand for the purposes set forth.

0 8. In combination, a bottomless mold, a reciprocating grasping andreleasing device for lowering the ingot intermittingly, and means forsevering the lowered ingot from the bodycasting, substantially asdescribed.

9. In combination with a bottomless mold, a grasping and releasingdevice arranged beneath said mold having vertically-moving sections 0 cand means, substantially as de scribed, to cause said sections to engagethe ingot in their downward courses and separate from holding relationto said ingot in their upward courses, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

10. In combination with a bottomless mold,

reciprocating sections 0 0 adapted to grasp or hold the ingot in theirdownward courses and release from the ingot in their upward courses, andmeans for actuating said sections, substantially as set forth.

11. In combination with a bottomless mold, a reciprocating clamp havingsections 0 c and springs for separating said sections, and means forcausing said sections to hold to the ingot when drawing the same fromthe mold, substantially as set forth.

12. In combination with a bottomless mold, a reciprocating clamp havingautomaticallyseparable clamping-sections adapted to release from holdingrelation with the ingot in the movement of said clamp toward the mold,substantially as set forth.

13. In combination a bottomless mold, a reciprocating grasping andreleasing device for lowering the ingot intermittingly and a hydraulicdevice m, connecting with and for the purpose of actuating said graspingand releasing device in lowering the ingot, substantially as set forth.

1-1. In combination with a bottomless mold, a reciprocating clampsupported on springs and separable automatically and means to cause saidclamp to enter into holding engagement with said ingot, substantially asset forth.

15. In combination, a bottomless mold, a clamp, a chain, and a crane,said clamp and chain being connected with said crane, where by the ingotmay be lowered by the downward motion of the crane and the lower end ofthe ingot be broken oif by the upward movement of. the same,substantially as set forth.

16. In combination, a bottomless mold, reciprocating clamping-sectionshaving inclines, a device adapted to engage said inclines and cause saidsections to enter into holding relation to the ingot, and a hydraulicmotor to operate the device, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this31st day of May, 1887.

JOHN ILLINGVVORTI-I.

Witnesses:

OLIVER DRAKE, J. O. CLAYTON.

